I'll Take My Chances
by InnerSanctumFish
Summary: My alternate ending to ME3. Most of the content is still intact with a few modifications.


**Hey everybody! I'm back for another round! So this is an alternative ending that I have been thinking about. Some of the dialogue has been altered but for the most part it was left intact. It may not be the best but then again there is never really a perfect ending. **

The blinding light of the beam was unbearable. Shepard ran down the slope towards his goal with his eyes nearly shut. Other marines ran along side him as vehicles and gunships showered them with sparks and shrapnel. He ran as quickly with what little strength he had left, feeling his Achilles tendon beginning to tear. Men and women screamed in anguish as they were enveloped in explosions from Harbinger's beams. The screams echoed within Shepard's mind, each one driving him onwards reminding him of all the lives that were lost and yet to be lost. He had almost reached the conduit when another beam cut down the remaining charging forces. Shepard screamed as he felt ungodly heat and pain but most of all fear. Fear that he had finally lost to the Reapers. Fear that he had failed everyone fighting for a chance to live. Fear for everyone he loved and cared for.

Several long minutes passed before Shepard opened his eyes. His breathing was ragged, his armor charred black and in some areas had completely melted off. Blood flowed from open wounds but he was vaguely aware of it. The radio was filled with scattered reports. The order for a full retreat was issued. What was left of Hammer were regrouping and preparing for another push. He looked ahead of him and saw the light.

They were so close to their goal. So close to stopping the Reapers once and for all. Shepard staggered upright as he tried to regain his footing but fell several times before dragging himself forward to the body of a dying marine. The marine looked at the commander, his eyes were wide as he saw Shepard's state. He gave one last nod before succumbing to the void. Realizing all of his weapons were missing, he looked around and saw a discarded carnifex. Taking it in hand he limped forward, growing weaker by the second. He watched as Harbinger departed the scene, cursing it with every oath he could think of. Several husks ran out of the smoke and screamed for blood. Shepard aimed the best he could and succeeded in killing two of the husks while the third managed to claw his shoulder.

Roaring in pain and anger, Shepard struck the husk with the butt of the pistol. The husk stumbled once before it was put down. Without looking around, he staggered onwards before getting ambushed by a marauder. The monstrosity of a turian fired several rounds, striking Shepard in the shoulder causing him to spin as he took aim again. By now the pain he felt was completely numb as he tried to hold on just a little longer. Firing several rounds, he depleted the shields of the marauder. The marauder loosed another volley, but missed before crumpling to the ground in front of the lone human.

Shepard finally reached the beam as he finally regained his breathing. He was now aware of the pain. The tendrils of pain spread throughout his body, trying to incapacitate him. Falling forward, he felt the sense of vertigo as the conduit beamed him to the Citadel.

The corridor was dimly lit with a red light. Keepers could be seen scurrying about, completely focused on their work. Shepard gagged as he looked around. It was completely filled with bodies. He felt the urge to puke but held it back. Not knowing where he was on the Citadel, he made his way through the piles of bodies hoping to find a way to assist the fleets.

"Is anyone still on this frequency?" Shepard groaned. The silence he received left him wondering if he was the only one who made it.

As soon as he cleared the corridor and entered a large chamber his radio crackled.

"Shepard? Shepard is that you?"

"Anderson! You made it! Where are you?" Shepard exclaimed. Hope returned to him at the sound of the admirals voice.

"I don't know. I made it through the beam and ended up here. I just passed through a huge room and I think I found the controls for the station."

"Don't move Anderson. I think I'm in the room you were just in." Shepard said as he picked up his pace.

"How many made it through?" Shepard asked as he climbed the steps leading out of the room.

"I don't think anyone else made it through. It's just us."

A minute later Shepard stepped onto a circular platform. He saw Anderson in front of him bent over a console. He was about to say something when he felt it. A presence, pushing down on his mind. Anderson turned around, his body moving in a jerky manner. Shepard tried to move but his body wouldn't respond.

"Anderson." Shepard called out to the admiral.

"Shepard... I can't."

"I underestimated you Shepard." A smooth voice called out from behind him.

"Illusive man." Shepard hissed.

"I'm glad that both of you are here to witness this historic moment. The evolution of humanity into the apex of galactic society."

"How do you intend to do that?" Anderson demanded.

"By claiming what is rightfully ours; the control of the Reapers themselves. Control is the means of our survival." The Illusive man claimed as he walked around the dais. Parts of his face resembled the materials husks were composed of.

"Your insane!" Shepard shouted as he tried to fight the control on him.

"Their controlling you!" Anderson struggled to speak as the Illusive man circled around him.

"Hardly. I am in control of the situation, including you. Allow me to demonstrate." Illusive man replied nonchalantly

"Controlling husks is one thing, controlling the Reapers is another thing. But controlling me is different!" Shepard responded defiantly.

"You've never trusted in my abilities Shepard. Have a little faith."

The Illusive man stopped and looked out to the closed interior of the Citadel.

"When humanity first discovered the mass relays, we realized there was more to the galaxy than we knew. Some were afraid of letting anything in. They wanted to destroy mass relay, hoping that would keep us safe. But look at what happen when we took a chance."

"That discovery jumped humanity several hundred years forward. If we control the Reapers, they will do the same for us again but a thousand fold. Imagine what could be accomplished."

"You claim that it will bring peace. The Reapers want to wipe the board clean so that they can wait for the next cycle. Their peace would mean our destruction!" Shepard fought against the control to no avail.

"But we can have that peace. You are the key Shepard. You can control them. If only you can see reason." Illusive man waved his hand dismissively causing Shepard to raise his gun towards Anderson.

"Bullshit! We have to destroy the Reapers! It's the only way!"

"And waste this opportunity?"

"You can't understand them let alone control them. Those powers are only corrupting you!"

"I don't believe that. We can control it. Why should we not control them at all?"

"Because they are controlling you! Your so blind that they let you believe that you can control them. We are not ready for powers like that." Shepard shouted as he tried to point the gun somewhere else but no matter what he did he couldn't move.

"This is how humanity will evolve."

"No. There is always another way. There is no such thing as one path!" Anderson fought to regain control. Every vein in his neck was visible as he strained against the Illusive man.

"The crucible will let me harness the Reapers. It will let me control them! I have sacrificed in the name of humanity and I know for certain that this is how we will survive."

"And then what? You will subjugate every other species? Or do you think you can destroy all of them and leave only humans by using the Reapers?" Shepard argued.

"Look at the power we can control! Imagine what we could do if we controlled the Reapers!" The Illusive man clenched his fist causing a change in the control on Shepard.

Shepard felt his finger pull the trigger. With horror, he watched as the shot hit Anderson. Anderson howled in pain but could do nothing else while they were both restrained. Blood began to flow from the wound. Shepard focused harder hoping to break the hold upon them.

"I see what they did to you."

"No! I took what was mine from them. I made it my own. This isn't about any one of us here! This is bigger than all of us! You never saw the bigger picture, but I did Shepard." The Illusive man shouted.

"Don't listen to him Shepard. We know that he is wrong." Anderson grunted weakly as the wound took it's toll upon him.

"Who will you listen to then Shepard?" The Illusive man demanded before continuing, " A old soldier stuck in his ways, only able to see the world down the barrel of a gun. And what if he's wrong? What if controlling the Reaper's is the answer?"

"This ends today if we destroy them, but if you can't control them-"

"But I can!"

"Are you willing to bet humanity's existence on it?" Shepard watched as the Illusive man struggle in his belief. 

"I know it will work!"

"But you can't do it. The Reapers will see to it that they are never controlled."

"No! I'm in control! No one is going to tell me what to do!"

"Listen to yourself! Your indoctrinated." Anderson muttered.

"No! NO! The two of you think you can tell me otherwise but this power is how we will survive! I have sacrificed for that power and I will not give it up! I only wanted to protect humanity! I know we can control them!" The Illusive man ranted.

"You've sacrificed too much. It's not too late to stop this madness. Look at Saren! He made the same mistake. He believed in a misguided way of survival. Don't repeat his mistake. Let us go. We will take care of it." Shepard pleaded.

"I can't do that commander."

"Of course you can't. They own you now. Your were never in control." Anderson said as he coughed up a globule of blood.

"You will undo everything I have worked for. I won't let that happen." The Illusive man replied as he pulled out Anderson's sidearm and stepped off to the side.

"Humanity is already undone because of you."

"That's not true!"

"The Reapers have the Citadel! They have us fighting each other instead of them! They work by dividing us and conquering the fragments instead of facing a united force! Your only destroying any chance of us defeating the Reapers because they control you!"

Shepard watched as the Illusive man struggle. The man clutched his head with a hand while he held the gun with a death grip.

"They are too strong! I can't fight them!"

"Your stronger! Don't let them win! Break their hold! Don't let them control you!"

"I... I tried Shepard." The Illusive man said as he raised the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. His body fell unceremoniously to the ground with a thud.

The hold that he had on both Shepard and Anderson vanished and Shepard watched as Anderson fall face forward. Taking the final few steps, Shepard initiated a station wide signal for the Citadel to open. Shepard stepped back and watch as the arms of the station open before turning back to Anderson.

Gingerly stepping to the admirals side, Shepard propped Anderson up against the raised platform. He sat down next to him and the two watched as Earth came into view.

"You did it Shepard." Anderson coughed again as he placed a hand on his wound.

"No. We did it. I'm sorry about everything." Shepard said as he hung his head in shame.

"Don't be. If I had to choose this is what I would have wanted. Few can say that much."

The two of them were silent as they watched the majority of the Reaper's converge upon Earth.

"That's quite a view." Anderson commented.

"Best seats in the house. Shepard chuckled weakly as they watched the crucible began attaching itself to the Citadel.

"God. Feels like years since I last sat down. Never took the time to stop and look up at the stars."

"You've earned it." Shepard said as he glanced over at Anderson, "Anderson, stay with me. We're almost through this. We'll make it out of here."

"You did good son. You did good. I'm … proud of you." Anderson whispered before he closed his eyes.

"Thank you sir. It's been an honor to serve along side of you Anderson." Shepard murmured realizing that Anderson had passed on. He looked down at his blood soaked hand. He was going to bleed out as well if he didn't finish what they had started.

"Shepard? Commander? Are you there?" Hacketts voice came over the comms just as soon Shepard vision started to fade.

"Admiral. What do you need me to do?" Shepard responded weakly as he crawled towards the console.

"Nothings happening. The crucible isn't firing. Something must be wrong on your end."

Shepard reached one final time for the controls but fell short and collapsed. A beam enveloped him and the platform he laid upon ascended up into the light.

Shepard woke up to find himself laying on what looked like the outer hull of the Citadel. In front of him there was a structure with three main junctions.

_'Where am I? Am I dead?'_ Shepard thought as he looked around.

A glow attracted his attention, he squinted so as to discern what the glow was but the beam was too bright. Whatever the glow was it approached him. On closer inspection it was a child. The same child that Shepard had saw back on Earth and in his dreams.

Whatever it was it stopped directly in front of Shepard and stood with authority before kneeling down to address Shepard.

"_Wake up." _The voice echoed.

Shepard struggled to his feet and looked around. How was he breathing? He was in space. Was he really dead?

"What? Where am I?" Shepard asked as he looked to the child

"_The Citadel. It's my home."_

"Who are you?"

"_I am the catalyst."_

"I thought the Citadel was the catalyst."

"_No the Citadel is part of me."_

"I need to stop the Reapers. Do you know how I can do that?"

"_Perhaps. I control the Reapers. They are my solution."_ The being spoke again and beckoned for Shepard to follow.

"Solution? To what?"

"_Chaos."_ The being spoke cryptically before answering Shepard's anticipated question, _"The created will always rebel against their creators. But we found a way to stop that from happening. A way to restore order for the next cycle."_

"By wiping out organic life?"

"_No we harvest advanced civilizations, leaving the younger ones alone. Just as we left your people alive the last time we were here."_

"But you killed the rest."

"_We helped them ascend so they can make way for new life, storing the old life in Reaper form."_

"I think we'd rather keep our own form."

"_No you can't. Without us to stop it, synthetics would destroy all organics. We've created this cycle so that never happens. That is the solution."_

"But your taking away our future. Without a future we have no hope. Without hope we might as well be machines, programmed to do what we're told."

"_You have hope, more than you think. The fact that your standing here, the first organic ever, proves it. But it also proves my solution won't work anymore."_

"So now what?"

"_We find a new solution."_

"Yeah. But how?"

"_The crucible changed me. Created new possibilities. But I can't make it happen. I know you've thought about destroying us."_

Shepard followed the being's gaze at a tubing with a glass covering. He imagined had Anderson still been alive he would have destroyed it without a second thought.

"_You could destroy synthetic life if you want. Including the geth. Even you are part synthetic."_

"But the Reapers will be destroyed?"

"_Yes but the peace won't last. Soon your children will create synthetics and the chaos will come back."_

"Maybe."

"_Or do you think you can control us?"_

Shepard again followed the being's gaze. There were two rods crackling with energy. Had the Illusive man had his way, there would have been no doubt he would have seized the power to control the Reapers.

"So the Illusive man was right after all."

"_Yes but he could never have taken control because we already controlled him."_

"But I can."

"_You will die. You will control us but will lose everything you have."_

"But the Reapers would obey me?"

"_Yes."_

"_There is another solution."_

"Yeah?"

"_Synthesis."_

"And that is?"

"_Add your energy to the crucible. Everything you are will be absorbed and then sent out. The chain reaction will combine all synthetic and organic life into a new frame work. A new DNA."_

"I don't know."

"_Why not? Synthetics are already apart of you. Could you imagine your life without them?"  
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"Will there be peace?"

"_The cycle will end. Synthesis is the final evolution of life. But we need each other to make it happen. You have a difficult decision. Releasing the energy of the crucible will end the cycle but it will also destroy the mass relays. The paths are open but you have to choose."_

Shepard thought about it. If he chose to destroy the Reapers, than the war would end. But the child told him that it would wipe out the current synthetic life including the geth who had just recently obtained their goals. This extended to E.D.I as well who had just come to understand what it meant to be like an organic. And than there was the possibility of him dying.

He looked towards the rods that would allow him control of the Reapers. If he chose to control them he could stop the war and send the Reapers away but at the cost of his own life.

And than there was the third choice he was given. A mixture of both life to create a new one. With no one different there would be no cause for conflict. No cause for the Reapers to harvest organics because they are no longer organic. The Reapers would leave since they no longer have purpose. But in the end it would mean sacrificing himself for the greater good. This was what Saren had wanted when they had first found out about the Reapers. A way to stop the Reapers from harvesting organics. A hybrid answer.

However it was the last bit of information that he grappled with. All the relays would be destroyed, effectively cutting off the various species from each other. How would they contact everyone? Would everyone be wiped out anyway? The relay from the Bahak system had wiped out the entire system so how could anyone survive?

All three possibilities troubled Shepard. In two of them he would be able to stop the cycle indefinitely but at the cost of his life. The third had a possibility of him dying but a possible temporary peace. He had long ago accepted the fact that he might die, but after what he had been through he no longer wanted to live like that. After the blitz he was exposed to the true horrors of war. He had seen countless death, caused his fair share of it as well. Who was he to decided the fates of billions? But than another thought crept into his mind.

He still had family, his mother and father, and his little sister. Than there was his crew whom he considered friends. He had enjoyed every moment of revelry and all the times they looked after each other. Everyone he had ever met deserved a chance to live despite their flaws. He had always chosen to see the best in people. At that thought, he remembered Tali. She was more than just a friend. She was the one women in the galaxy that he wanted to spend his life with. He cherished every moment they had shared together, the good and the bad. He thought of the promise he made to her on the Normandy before he was put on trial. He thought of the times when he could see her beautiful face, to see her smile and laugh.

Conflicted he felt a presence at the back of his mind. Unlike the whispers that he had come to associate with the Reapers, there was a certain quality to this presence. It felt ancient yet at the same time familiar.

_'Human. I am glad to have seen our work has finally paid off.'_

_'Who are you?' _Shepard wondered.

_'Who I am is no longer relevant, but if you must know I am Ranzar Hitoal.' _The light voice reverberated through out his mind.

_'Have you ever wondered why your instinct has led you so well?' _The voice asked.

_'At times, but I could never really explain it.'_

_'As it should be. I can see that you have met another of my kind. I am glad that he had survived the dark period that followed the collapse of the empire.'_

_'Your a prothean?' _

_'You are quite sharp. Good. I am glad that my people invested in yours ancestors young one. Yes I was a prothean but now I exist as a shard of hope that my people hoped yours would put together when the time was right. It seems that time has come.'_

_'The Reapers are here. We finished the crucible and found the catalyst. It turns out that the catalyst was the Citadel the whole time.'_

_'It makes sense. We could have never defeated the Reapers because they had controlled it from the beginning of their invasion of our cycle. I already know that the efforts of my people were not in vain. They managed to delay the Reapers to allow you time to prepare.'_

_'Were you with the last protheans from Ilos then?' _Shepard asked. Unlike Javik he assumed that this prothean was most likely one of their scientists.

_'No. I only knew that my people were working on a project there but I never knew what it was until I examined your memories. I was apart of the research group based on Mars.'_

_'Why were you studying us?'_

_'We hoped that if we could guide your species along certain paths that you could have ended the cycle. We attempted this with the asari as well mainly because of their biotic potential and long life span. However we saw potential in your species. Something that very few other species possessed at the time.'_

_'Which was?'_

_'Your species was driven by survival. A trait that we came to admire during the final days of the fall. Several researchers along with myself decided that the best course of action was to shield your system for as long as possible from the Reapers. However we were force to pursue drastic measures to make sure that we could still impart our knowledge to your people. Although it seems that only few of the blood lines have survived to this day.' _The voice explained.

_'What do I do then? How do we stop the Reaper's.'_

_'You already know the answer to that question. You destroy them. If you try to harness their powers to control them you will surely perish. And do not fall for their deception of the mass relays and the loss of the synthetics. Without the relays they could not continue the cycle for future harvest. They hide the truth so that you may be tempted to choose their paths. The Reapers know that you have allied yourself with the synthetics of your cycle and because of that they are afraid. They fear both organics and synthetics could some day defeat them. Their lies of a hybrid are intended to break your will. To indoctrinate you.'_

This shocked him to the core. Indoctrination? But how are they doing it to him. The voice made sense though. He shook his head as he thought of all the implications.

_'Do not despair, do not lose hope, and most importantly do no stop resisting them. This act of defiance will be their downfall. Now go human, you know what you must do. Know that on this day you shall avenge all of the fallen cycles.'_

Finding strength in those words, Shepard walked forward until he was in the center of the three different outcomes in which he would decide. He took one final look at each of the structures and made up his mind.

_'What are you doing?' _The being asked as it watched Shepard move off to the platform on the right.

Shepard did not answer. Limping forward he raised his gun once more and fired at the glass covering until the weapon indicator pinged for a new clip. Each shot struck with a sense of finality.

'_For the fallen.'_ Shepard thought to himself as the rounds cracked the glass.

_'For those who still live.'_ Explosions began to erupt around the platform as the covering was breached.

_'For Tali.' _Was the final thought that went through Shepard's mind before fire rushed out to envelop him.

Bright light was the first thing Shepard saw as he opened his eyes. He stared up at the light for several long minutes before he realized it wasn't the sun. The room was white and the gentle but constant beeping of medical equipment made him realized where he was. The heavy smell of antiseptic helped confirm that suspicion.

_'Guess I'm not in dead yet. Unless heaven is a giant hospital.' _Shepard mused.

With difficulty, he looked around to inspect the rest of the room. He stopped as soon as his eyes fell upon the other occupant of the room. Tali was sitting in a chair near the door. It looked like she was asleep because he could barely see her eyes.

Feeling parched, he tried to reach for the cup of water at the side of his bed but it was just beyond his grasp. With an exacerbated sigh he abandoned the attempt. Who would leave water just out of reach? That was just plain torture.

Tali must have heard him because she stirred ever so slightly until he saw her eyes open. She jolted awake as soon as she saw the warm smile on his face.

"Louis!" Tali exclaimed as she rushed over to the bed.

"Are you alright?" Tali asked, her words laced with worry.

"Been better. A bit thirsty though."

Tali nodded and brought the cup up to his lips as gently as possible. The cool liquid raced down his throat allowing his body to relax somewhat. Trying to show his thanks, Shepard placed a hand on the side of her helmet. Tali reached up and placed her hand on his.

"I see the two of you are still crazy for each other huh?"

Shepard and Tali both turned in the direction of the voice and saw Kasumi uncloak. The thief had a devious smile as she crossed her arms.

"Kasumi, you shouldn't sneak up on us like that." Tali complained as she reluctantly pulled away.

"Well I heard about what happened so I thought should drop in and see how Shep is doing. Oh yeah just wanted to give you a heads up that Chakwas and most of the crew along with a few others are coming."

"Thanks for the warning Kasumi." Shepard nodded.

"Oh and if you see Garrus, tell him to meet me downstairs."

"Watch yourself out there Kasumi. Apparently a certain doctor on the Citadel has an interest in your turian." Tali teased.

"We'll see about that." Kasumi grinned as she cloaked just as the door opened.

It seemed like that Kasumi wasn't kidding because the room was packed within moments. Most of the ground team was there along with Chakwas, Wrex, Joker, Hannah and Hackett. Chakwas nodded to Shepard and waited for everyone else to speak to Shepard while she looked over the charts displayed on the monitors.

"Didn't know you two would take my advice." Garrus smirked as he leaned against the wall as Tali looked away somewhat embarrassed.

"Well you know I listen to advice when it sounds good." Shepard joked.

Everyone laughed and fell silent as Hackett approached the bed. The aging admiral stood at attention with his hands behind his back.

"Admiral."

"How are you Shepard? I heard it was hell down there leading Hammer's forces."

"Holding together sir. What happened? I don't remember much after I activated the device."

"I'm not sure myself. Whatever you did though destroyed all the Reapers in orbit. The ones down on the ground were disabled as soon as the device affected them. We're getting reports from all over the galaxy that the Reaper forces have been destroyed."

"What about our fleets and ground forces? Are the relays and citadel stable?"

"The fleets are regrouping, we took a lot of losses but we'll recover. As for our ground forces, I couldn't really give you any accurate number. So many are dead or MIA." Hackett paused as he shook his head

"I'm not exactly sure what you mean by your question of the relays though. The only strange thing that happened with them was that it sent out energy the crucible gave off to other systems. We think it might have been the cause for the Reaper's destruction. As for the citadel; it took a lot of damage during the fight and large areas are still inactive but for the most part I think we can get up and running again. Either way we won't know for sure when we get back up to full strength and look into it."

Shepard nodded and gave a silent thanks to Ranzar even if he had just imagined it.

"You done a helluva thing Commander. You've done your part, we'll take care of the rest. Get some rest, that's an order." Hackett saluted before leaving the room.

"How is he doctor?" Hannah asked as she glanced over to Shepard and Tali who had refused to leave his side.

"Stable enough. Bed rest for another week and he should be fine." Chakwas answered with a smile.

"Commander I hope you haven't forgotten your promise."

"Soon as I'm up and about, we'll break open that bottle of brandy."

"Ha! Knew you would come through Shepard! If I weren't so sure you were a human I'd mistake you for a krogan." Wrex bellowed.

"You know that could probably explain why Shepard does such a mean impression of a charging krogan whenever he's out on the field." Joker pointed out.

The door opened and a nurse entered the room, nodding respectfully to everyone.

"Dr. Chakwas we need you in the east wing. Also I was told that you were needed by your men outside Wrex."

"Duty calls. I'll check on you later commander."

"Same here. Shepard, you ever need anything you let me know and I'll take care of it." Wrex promised before leaving with Chakwas.

"Wrex." Shepard nodded his thanks.

Shepard took another sip of water with Tali's help before asking the rest of his questions.

"So where's James and Ash?"

"Last I heard from them was about an hour ago. Ash volunteered to lead a group of marines to secure a few more buildings for the wounded. James said he had personal matters to look into. I think Javik went along with him. Said something about "reflecting on past mistakes." Garrus spoke up.

"Tell me though; how bad is it out there?"

"It's pretty bad. So many dead and that much more wounded or missing. But don't worry about it. We'll make it through this. Humanity has always done what was necessary to survive but this time we aren't alone." Hannah replied. There was hope in her voice.

"I hope so. What about the Normandy though?"

"Took a few hits but its nothing we can't fix. EDI is actually supervising the repairs since it would take hours for the engineers to fix every little problem."

"So EDI is fine? What about the geth?"

"I don't see why she wouldn't be fine. As for the geth, well they're still in the system. They offered to help secure the system before turning their attention to Palavan and Thessia."

"Good. I guess everything did work out." Shepard murmured quietly.

"What's that Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"Garrus shouldn't you be heading downstairs? A certain friend of ours is down there waiting for you." Tali informed him knowing that Shepard was thinking about something he probably didn't understand completely himself. Sure he considered EDI as a friend and the geth as trustworthy allies but his questions concerning them were odd. She would ask about it later.

"Who might that be?" Garrus asked completely oblivious.

"Maybe this will make it clear then; Gary." Tali laughed as it finally hit their turian friend."

"Oh I totally gotta see this." Joker chimed in as he caught on.

"Yeah as long as you don't break a leg trying to walk down the stairs. Thanks for the tip Tali. And Shepard? Glad to see you make it out of that mess."

"Likewise Garrus. Have fun now."

Eventually only Hannah, Tali and Shepard were left in the room.

"So how are you two doing?" Hannah asked with a bright smile.

"Better now that the Reapers are taken care of." Tali said as she took Shepard's hand again earning a warm smile from him.

"I'm glad to hear that. So when's the wedding?"

"What wedding? Why didn't you tell me you bosh'tet?" Tali looked from Hannah to Shepard who was laughing at Tali's panic attack.

"It's just a figure of speech Tali, don't worry so much. And Louis you shouldn't be laughing. Your lucky that shes willing to put up with you." Hannah chuckled.

It was Tali's turn to laugh as Hannah took her side. She was starting to enjoy this.

"So what have the two of you been up to since the last time I saw you?"

"Well you already know what happened to me. As for Tali, the admirals of the quarian fleet asked her to help with the geth. We actually helped the quarians take back Rannoch and the geth are helping them." Shepard said with pride.

"Wow Louis, I'm impressed. Getting your girlfriend an entire planet as a gift?"

"Yeah. Long story short the quarians are rebuilding and the geth have found a way for the quarians to re-adapt to their home world. Tali's currently serving as their ambassador."

"Actually I'm not an ambassador anymore."

"What?" Shepard was bewildered.

"Can't really be a good ambassador with me running off with you now can I?" Tali teased.

"Looks like your rubbing off on her Louis. Your such a bad influence you know, getting her to leave her duties." Hannah said jokingly.

"But who will be the ambassador then?"

"I actually spoke to admiral Koris. I told him he would be better suited for the position and he agreed reluctantly. Besides I never liked politics."

The three of them talked for another hour before Hannah got called away to help coordinate supply lines. The war may have just ended and despite the fact that the conflict helped unite the species, war profiteering was still active especially now. Unfortunately not everyone was being cooperative and some old hatreds were starting to flare up again but for now it seemed manageable.

"It's so hard to believe that its finally over." Tali reflected.

"Yeah it's still sinking in for me as well." Shepard replied distractedly.

"Something on your mind?"

Shepard thought about how to answer her. He didn't want to cause her to worry anymore than she needed to be and he wasn't sure if he completely understood the implications himself. He decided to keep it to himself for now.

"Nothing really. Just eager to get out of this place to get back to work." Shepard finally answered.

"Well as long as you don't mind me tagging along."

"I'm pretty sure I could find a way for you to be useful." Shepard grinned.

**Alright so maybe not the best but hey that's how I chose to interpret it. I ended up choosing the destroy ending since I had enough EMS to have the cut scene to see Shepard alive. As for the whole prothean portion, I used bit of info from the prothean artifact that you could find on the planet with the pyjaks in the first game where it detailed they were studying the humans. Also I thought the indoctrination theory helped make the endings a little more understandable. Anyway be on the look out for more stories in the future.**


End file.
